10/20/2009

Sedona's Favorite Bear

Back in the days of Sedona's settler families, one man stood tall in real life and legend. Jesse Jefferson "Bear" Howard of California got into trouble in the late 1870s for killing a herder whose sheep had grazed on his land. Upon turning himself in, he was thrown in jail.

Legend has it that he escaped with the help of a hackblade baked into a cake, and made his way to the place where all outlaws of the era headed: Arizona territory. Arriving in Oak Creek Canyon in 1879 on the run from the law, he made his home near West Fork.

It's hard to tell which was taller: the man's height or the tales later told of him. The stories include killing bears with only a knife; of his children being kidnapped by Indians; of a second prison escape and beating up a man for mistreating a lady.

You can call upon a dose of Bear's gumption to get you through your toughest trials!